armadillo

I was going to try to transfer 3 corys from their current tank, which is getting close to overstocked, to the betta tank, which is 12G for a betta alone.

So I transferred my female to a bucket, moved things about, moved the cory in, moved her back in, and she just flared and flared and flared and attacked him. So I took her back in and tried with another female. This one didn't even flare and went straight to bite him. So things are back to what they were.

Why can't they all play nice, hey.

capekate

Hi Armadillo
I dont know why they cant play nice! Especially when you give them friends to keep them company! I keep my bettas in tanks by themselves.. and just decided a long time ago not to give them any tankmates. They can look at each other through the glass or in the case of the two females, they can look and flare at each other thru the divider.

~ kate

armadillo

I kind of had my hopes up as one of my females is sooo sweet with her tankmates (corys). She even waits her turn in their little food bowl. Ah well. Such is life.

nmwierman1977

Why can't you do it with the female that already has cory's as her tank mates? Natalie

0morrokh

Yeah it's frustrating sometimes...not sure if you were on here yet when I still had Dorado but he was a huge male but the sweetest guy, had him in my 20 with the tiny dwarf cories and otos. So I figure, hey, maybe I could put some other fish with Cas or Fuego. Nope.

armadillo

Thanks for the suggestion, Natalie. I was contemplating it, but really I don't want her tank to be overstocked, and I'd moved the corys out of there in the first place to make sure she wasn't in an overcrowded tank. According to the inch per gallon rule she wasn't overstocked, but it's a tall hex, so not that much surface to swim on.

armadillo

I even tried talking to them, LOL. Telling them that, I too, needed a while to see what was so great about corys, but that really, they are the cutest things. But no, to no avail. They went ahead and were their 'I wont' share my toys' selves all the same.

COBettaCouple

Unfortunately, the females are WAY more likely than the males to refuse to share terrritory with even cories & otos.

timg

There seems to be a definite trait through the breeding methods of bettas. Some are placid, other super aggressive, and a good deal of this is through whether they are bred as a community or as individuals.

I have spent a considerable time researching the different breeding methods for bettas and found that when raised singly they are much more aggressive towards other fish than if they are raised in a community with the rest of the brood. This could account for why some will and others won't tolerate tankmates. At the moment I have 9 young bettas all happily growing up in one tank with some neons for company and they are all fine together. Even the three males aren't showing any real aggression as yet.

It may just be a case of putting the cories in and letting them settle down too. Cories are pretty tough little critters and I doubt that the betta could do them any real harm, other than stressing them a little, so it may be worth giving them a little time to adjust to the idea.

nmwierman1977

How about this then. Why don't you move the female that has the cory's in it in the 12 gallon along with the corys and put the female that's in the 12 gallon in the hex tank. You have 2 cory's in with her now right, plus 3 more that was in the other tank? Just so I'm understanding this right. I just looked at your stock. So, you have 6 corys all together. Are they all 2 inches long? Or since they are different kinds do they vary in size? I'm just trying to figure out a way you can do it, so you don't overstock your other tank. Natalie

COBettaCouple

I forgot to mention it before, but when Bettas are curious about something, the way that they check it out is to 'nibble' at it. They're not so much biting as they are feeling. I don't know if that's what your girls were doing or not, but I will see our bettas check something new doing that.

Allie

I see mine do that all the time. They even nip at me now & again.

pamd

Were the cories and otos in the tank before Dorado? I just read in this FishLore thread a couple of suggestions that a betta is more likely to accept tankmates who were there first. I hope people will chime in to see if indeed there is a pattern regarding introduction order, even though I realize there will probably be wide variations depending on the individual betta's aggressiveness.

0morrokh

Yes Dorado was the last one in the tank, while my other 2 were already in their tank before I decided to try tankmates. Dorado was a lot more laid back than the other two, but I'm sure the order I put them in the tanks made a bit of a difference.

armadillo

Don't you think that the betta could kill it? She was really going for it. I was wondering about giving it time too, but it looked pretty savage first time she tried, so I removed her immediately.

That's what I thought (about the breeding method): 2 of my 3 bettas were brought up in community tanks, and only 1 of them is sociable: the one that I had sharing with the corys from day 1 in my house. So maybe I've missed the boat on the community-raised one that I allowed to live on its own immediately?

armadillo

MMmmmm. Now THERE's a thought, Natalie. I could move my calmer female to the 12G, and add 3 corys to that one in addition to the 3 panda corys that already live with her.

armadillo

The way they did it was really vicious. Really not their nice, cute, little nibbling, but on the contrary: head butting followed by biting at full speed. Plus lots of flaring for one of them.

COBettaCouple

lol.. I love their little nips.. especially when they really get into it & try to shake your finger.